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Bank repossesses wrong house, sells homeowner’s stuff

An Ohio bank that mistakenly repossessed a woman's house and sold off her stuff refuses to pay her back./WBNS-10TV

MCARTHUR, Ohio – An Ohio woman is fighting to get her belongings back after a bank mistakenly attempted to repossess her home, removing its contents and selling them or throwing them away.

Katie Barnett of Vinton County says she returned home after being away for two weeks and had to crawl through the window of her own house after the key she normally used didn’t work, WBNS-10TV reports. When she got inside, she found her stuff had been removed.

Barnett said she assumed she had been robbed. And that’s not far from the truth.

It turns out First National Bank in Wellston, Ohio had foreclosed on her house even thought it was not her bank.

The bank, she says, sent someone to repossess the house located across the street, but broke into hers instead by mistake.

“They told me that the GPS led them to my house,” Barnett tells WBNS-10TV. “My grass hadn’t been mowed and they just assumed.”

Barnett says she called McArthur Police about the theft of her items but nothing came out of it. The police chief announced the case was closed weeks later.

With the house’s content gone, she presented the bank’s president with a $18,000 estimate to replace the losses, but he refused to pay.

“He got very firm with me and said, ‘We’re not paying you retail here, that’s just the way it is,'” Barnett said. “I did not tell them to come in my house and make me an offer. They took my stuff and I want it back.”

The bank president refused an on-camera interview, but told WBNS-10TV that the bank is trying to come to terms with Barnett.

“Now, I’m just angry,” Barnett said. “It wouldn’t be a big dael if they would step up and say ‘I’m sorry, we will replace your stuff.’ Instead, I’m getting attitude from them. They’re sarcastic when they talk to me. They make it sound like I’m trying to rip the bank off. All I want is my stuff back.”